Why every Christian should vote

REN… MONETTE Columnist

Friday

May 23, 2008 at 3:00 PM

During elections, many Christians are frustrated and confused, and so they end up not voting. There are 60 million evangelical Christians in America. Of that 60 million, only 15 million voted in 2000. Worst of all is that some 24 million -- 40 percent -- evangelicals are not even registered to vote.

Some people who do not vote say that since the world is coming to an end soon and the church is going to be raptured out, then why should they even bother to vote. They think that Jesus is going to come before their vote can make a difference. The reason that this kind of thinking is wrong is that Jesus said in Luke 19:13b, "Occupy till I come."

I believe that Jesus is saying for us to continue to do the business of the kingdom of God until Jesus comes. Jesus did not say, "Sleep until I come," or "Take it easy until I come." He said, "Occupy till I come."

God has enabled our country to become a great nation. Unfortunately, we are in danger of losing the blessings of God because his people have been willing over a long period of time to turn our nation over to ungodly people. When Christians abdicate their responsibility to elect godly leaders, evil men slowly but surely take over.

Every Christian in America should vote and should exercise his or her Christian duty to be involved in the process of electing godly leaders.

In Psalms 125:3 we see in the Living Bible, "For the wicked shall not rule the godly, lest the godly be forced to do wrong."

It is Godís divine plan that his people would be ruled by godly, righteous leaders. Our form of government was created by our Founding Fathers to allow us to be ruled by righteous leaders.

Psalms 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance." Proverbs 14:34 reads, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 29:2 declares, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan."

There is no doubt that Godís call is for every nation to have godly, righteous leaders. Not every nation heeds that call, however, and as the word declares, "Ö when a wicked man rules, the people groan."

I believe it is a sin when Godís people decide to do nothing to change the world around us. Jesus has declared in his word that we are to be the salt of the earth and a light to the darkness around us. We read this in Matthew 5:13-14. "13. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

We can do nothing less. We cannot just sit on our hands while evil continues to take over little by little.

I am reminded of what the four lepers said to themselves before they decided to leave Samaria and to approach the enemyís camp. II Kings 7:3 tells us, "Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, ŽWhy are we sitting here until we die?í " Samaria had been besieged by an overwhelming Syrian force, and people were starving to death. It looked as if the enemy had worn the will of the people down to where they were giving up and giving in. The four lepers asked what I believe is a great question for Christians today: "Why are we sitting here until we die?"

I believe many Christians today have given up and given in. They have decided their vote does not count, and so they just do not vote. These four lepers in Samaria were outcasts. People avoided them at all costs. They came to a point at which they decided they had nothing to lose by going straight into the enemyís camp. They were not full of faith or full of courage.

They just decided that they were not going to sit around until they died.

Christians today need to stand up and take notice. In many ways we are like outcasts in our society. Christians who believe the Bible applies to life today are ridiculed and considered outcasts. Christians need to have at least the fortitude of those four lepers and ask, "Why are we sitting here in America and doing nothing until we die?" Why not get involved? Why not cast our vote for righteousness to the best of our ability? Why not get involved and try to influence the world around us? Why not be salt and light as Jesus instructed us?

God declares in Deuteronomy 7:22, "And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you."

God repeats this principle in Exodus 23:29-30. "29. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you. 30. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land."

This is Godís way. We will have influence on the land and the people around us little by little. That is why it is so important for every Christian to realize that they must vote and that their vote counts, even if the effect takes a long time.

We need to realize that our enemies are employing this principle as I speak. The forces of evil began in our schools more than 40 years ago and began to have an influence little by little. Slowly but surely, little by little, the forces of evil have gained ground while Christians have either slept or given up.

Abortion on demand was made legal while Christians slept. Prayer was taken out of public schools and now in almost every public gathering. Little by little, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and certain judges, our laws and public policy are being changed to take Christianity out of every public forum.

The laws our Founding Fathers designed to keep the government from regulating or trying to control our faith in Jesus Christ are now being used to try to eliminate all traces of Christianity from public life. Our Founding Fathers risked everything, even being hanged for treason, in order to keep an oppressive government from trying to hinder our faith in God. They were willing to risk everything so that you and I could have the freedoms we enjoy.

In the same way, Jesus risked everything and died for you and me so that we could enjoy freedom from the penalty of sin and death. We should never take what Jesus did for us lightly, and we should never take what our Founding Fathers did for us lightly.

Hundreds of thousands of brave men and women have given their lives so that Americans can continue to have the freedom to vote for our leaders. I believe it is an insult to every American who has died in the service of our country when a person refuses to get out and vote. It is an abdication of our moral duty to influence the world around us. It is a refusal to obey Godís call to elect godly leaders to govern us.

The Rev. Renť Monette is the senior pastor of Living Word Church, 109 Valhi Blvd., Houma. He can be reached at 985-851-6915. Columns represent the opinion of the writer and not necessarily of this newspaper. Comments concerning this column may be addressed to the editor, The Courier, P.O. Box 2717, Houma, LA 70361 or e-mail: news@houmatoday.com.

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